Lars
Lars was a Norwegian crew-member stationed at the Thule Antarctic research station. The (originally unnamed) character first appeared in the 1982 film The Thing, portrayed by associate producer Larry J. Franco. He was further explored in the 2011 prequel film, this time played by actor Jørgen Langhelle. History The Thing (2011) Prior to being stationed at Thule Station as a dog handler, Lars was a soldier in the Norwegian Army during the Cold War, and was an expert in the use of grenades, flamethrowers, firearms and the ability to handle himself in dangerous situations. After the Thing infiltrates Thule Station, Lars is one of the few team members who remains calm; he even joins Sam Carter in fighting the original Thing. He is also the only Norwegian crewman who American palaeontologist Kate Lloyd trusts and constantly turns to for help - especially after he destroys the Juliette-Thing and proves he is human by showing her his tooth fillings (as the Thing cannot assimilate inorganic material). After attempting to discover if Sam Carter and Derek Jameson are human (since they were locked in a tool shed after being suspected to be imitations) he is outmanouvered by the men, who lock him in another shack. There he remains while Thule Station is destroyed and most of, if not all, its crew are killed. Later, a Norwegian pilot named Matias lands amongst the ruins and is confronted by Lars who demands that he show him his tooth fillings at gunpoint. Once Lars is convinced that Matias is human they notice the station's Alaskan malamute fleeing from the facility. Lars realizes that the Thing has assimilated the dog and the pair give chase in the helicopter, shooting at it from the air. The Thing (1982) Lars first appears in the opening scenes of The Thing (1982), as he and the pilot attempt to hunt and kill the Kennel-Thing. The pair follow it to a U.S. Antarctic research center, U.S. Outpost 31, and failing to shoot or grenade it from the air, land outside the perimeter of the facility. Lars and Matias get out of the chopper, Matias attempts to throw a grenade on Kennel-Thing but it slips from his hand and falls into the snow. Lars tells him to run, Matias tries to reach for the grenade but it explodes, destroys the chopper and kills Matias. Lars gets up and talks with the Americans in Norwegian about the Kennel-Thing but they don't understand. In panic, he starts to shoot at the Kennel-Thing and hits the Bennings's leg. He continues with his attempts to shoot the dog but he is shot by Garry into the eye, killing him instantly. Later his body was dissected by Copper, the physician of the Outpost. Trivia * He is one of only two characters who appeared in both films, the other being Matias. * In a deleted scene from 1982's The Thing, Outpost 31 commander Garry finds the character's dog tags, which identify the Norwegian as "Jans Bolen". However, "Jans" is a most unusual Norwegian name (the intended form was presumably Jens). If the name-tag was sufficiently worn or bloodied, it would not be entirely implausible that Garry might misread "Lars" as "Jans". * During the 2011 film, it is shown that he is the only member of the Norwegian Outpost who does not speak English. * Lars was one of the three human characters left alive at the end of The Thing (2011). * Lars' Norwegian warning to the Outpost 31 goes like this: "Se til helvete og kom dere vekk! Det er ikke en bikkje, det er en slags ting! Det imiterer en bikkje, det er ikke virkelig! KOM DERE VEKK, IDIOTER!" In idiomatic English, this may be translated: "Get the hell away! It's not a dog, it's some sort of thing! It's imitating a dog, it isn't real! GET AWAY, YOU IDIOTS!" * For "dog", the agitated man uses the low-register term bikkje instead of hund, the neutral Norwegian word for "dog". The word bikkje' '''is either very informal or outright contemptful, somewhat like English "mutt". There seems to be a slight grammatical error in the sentence "det imiterer en bikkje" (it's imitating a dog): The correct word for "it" referring back to common-gender ''ting ("thing") would be den, not neuter det. The sentence "det er ikke virkelig" (it isn't real) likewise ought to be "den er ikke virkelig" if the reference is to either bikkje (dog/mutt) or ting (thing). However, the wording "det er ikke virkelig" is correct if Lars is referring to the whole situation: "It" (namely, what you are experiencing) "is not real" (as in: there is something deceptive going on). * Lars' hesitation to burn the Juliette-Thing is similar to the way Childs hesitated to burn the Kennel-Thing. * German actor Norbert Weisser's attempt to speak Norwegian is decent, though his accent is somewhat strange to Norwegian ears. The intended form of the language is apparently the "standard" Eastern Norwegian spoken in and around Oslo. Images Vlcsnap-2011-12-30-05h47m44s55.png|Lars, as portrayed by Jørgen Langhelle in The Thing (2011). Lars shoots at the dog from the air - The Thing (2011).png|Lars tries to shoot the Dog 600px-TheThing-HK33-3.jpg|"Start the damn helicopter now!" Category:Characters Category:Characters (1982 film) Category:Characters (2011 film) Category:Deceased characters Category:Dog Handlers Category:Killed by another human Category:Never assimilated